I've had it with the Typhoon H. Today was the last straw. I'm done...
Yesterday I took it out to ensure the 3.01 upgrade didn't degrade anything and that my "recovery" process from the "H" bricking after the OTA update failed in the middle of updating. Too cold out to do more than a battery pack. But other than a slight drift, everything "seemed" to be okay.
Today, took it out, did all my usual pre-flight checks to include the weather and Kp Index. Ensured everything looked good before taking off. As I powered on my ST16 I heard a loud whining noise. Bad fans! I decided to go ahead and fly. Immediately after take-off, about 4 feet out and 6 feet up, the ST16 vibrated getting my attention, I look down and see something about GPS lost, put in angle mode, return home and perform a CC. I didn't catch all of the message as I looked up to make sure the H wasn't drifting in a bad direction. I could see the status light flashing orange. I landed the H and performed a CC.
Thing is I was in angle mode. Part of my Pre-flight checklist is to ensure all switches and nobs are in my desired starting position which includes being in angle mode.
Flew around. Checked out some of the 3.0 features and exercised different switches and buttons. Everything seemed fine with the exception of a slight drift at about 6' (not prop-wash). Battery got down to 14.6 volts so I started manual landing. I knew the 3.01 was supposed to make landing better, but mine seemed to be a bit super sensitive to stick inputs. As it touched down, with the left stick "full down", the motors started to slow but then suddenly the H tipped backwards and the motors started spinning up. I started to worry it was going to tip backwards, but the motors slowed, the front came down and it idled down. I thought it weird...
So I put the second battery in, did my usual check before doing anything and did several landings. Everything seemed fine. It still seemed sensitive to stick inputs but nothing weird. Flew it around and when the battery reached 14.6 volts I started to land it. As it touched down, it started to tilt forward. I thought WTF? so I gave it "throttle" to lift off and it did. I spun it around then attempted to land again. It touched down and leaned forward without the motors starting to idle down, it was going over. I pulled right stick back in attempt pivot it backwards and gave it throttle in attempt to lift off. No luck. It just went forward breaking the two front props and flipping over. It also put a small crack at a seam in the rear of the bird near the battery housing.
I'm just so done with this drone. You can search my posts and find the issues I've had with this one and the first one I owned which was bad from the beginning. I'm no noob to R/C or drones, I've got an Inspire and a P4 which has not given one serious problem. I've also had a Q500 which was problem free. I've spent more time doing check-out flights with this drone than actual photo opportunities. I can't ever tell how this drone will react to firmware upgrades, some upgrades are fine other degrade it. Its been back to Yuneec to have the GPS Module replaced. I just don't trust this thing.
Its on its way back to Yuneec yet again. I don't know if they'll find anything... Been on this forum for ages. Seems like us early adopters have the problematic drones. Captain Drone, Drone Clone, and myself, just to name a few.
I'm very disappointed in this drone. I really liked everything it has to offer. When it works its nice, I've got some great pictures with it. Yuneec CS is great. We talked and length and they'll take a look. I'm not hopeful though because this tipping issue was not consistent.
But with all that said, I'm done. I need something that I can rely on flight after flight, upgrade after upgrade. I get small issues, but not this.
When it comes back IF they've repaired it, I'm still done, I'm going to see if someone may be interested in purchasing it locally at a greatly reduced price with full disclosure. If its not repaired, I'm going to put in on a shelf as a hard lesson learned. I won't say I'm done with Yuneec. If they can get their quality control sorted and offer a drone that does what I want, I'll be back...
Oh and guess what came today? The RS module.... I don't know if I'll be able to return it. If not stay tuned, I'll be selling it for 250.00 shipped anywhere in the lower 48....